Find Happiness and Nirvana at airports

At Indianapolis International Airport (IND), Happiness, a site-specific project by Jamie Pawlus looks just like the signs we’re used to seeing at airports and other public venues.

Sub Pop Mega Mart handbill – courtesy EMP museum

And soon travelers will be able to find Nirvana — as well as Soundgarden, Mudhoney and Band of Horses — and recordings from other bands in the Sub Pop indie-rock catalog at a store opening in April at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

“For many people, the airport serves as a first and last impression of a city,” said Megan Jasper, vice president at Sub Pop. “Sub Pop hopes to add to the quality of that experience by proudly representing the city’s love for music and its culture.”

Founded in 1988, the Seattle-based Sub Pop vaulted grunge rock to international fame and the label is to Seattle what Motown was to Detroit and Sun Records was to Memphis.

“Seattle music has become part of the cultural identity of the city and is as rooted in our ‘brand’ as Amazon, Microsoft and Starbucks coffee,” said Charles R. Cross, author of the forthcoming book “Here We Are Now: The Lasting Impact of Kurt Cobain.” “Sub Pop is a big part of that, and even though not every local band is on Sub Pop, their name, more than any other, evokes Seattle music to many people.”

The roots in Northwest culture “fit well into Sea-Tac airport’s retail offerings, [which] feature a unique combination of local and national brands,” airport spokeswoman Christina Faine said in an email. “Locally there is a following for Sub Pop, with its quintessentially quirky Northwest merchandise.”

Faine said live performances outside the Sub Pop store will complement the airport’s existing music program, which includes short concerts, music videos and recorded greetings by local musicians.

The store will sell T-shirts and posters celebrating the region’s cultural history, as well as CDs and vinyl records.

“You can get Starbucks and Seattle’s Best coffees almost everywhere, but there are only a few places left where you can find rare Sub Pop vinyl,” Cross said. “Now our airport is one of them.”

The job posting for manager at the Sub Pop airport shop makes it clear that music is a priority: “Knowledge of the Sub Pop catalog, Pacific Northwest music, the Seattle music community and the city of Seattle” is required, it stated.

In addition to the Sub Pop store, Metsker Maps, a popular Seattle shop selling maps, globes, travel guides and geography-themed books and gifts, will open a branch Sea-Tac in May.

“The airport is rethinking the retail on the concourses and likely responding to the changing patterns of travelers who want to get past security quickly,” said Powell’s Books CEO Miriam Sontz. “But leases that were coming due later this year are not being renewed, and the option offered of extending these leases to Dec. 31 doesn’t work for our business.”

The airport is asking tenants with expiring contracts to join other interested businesses in submitting proposals for future operations.

“The proposals would be part of a program in its early stages that would redevelop airport concessions as we continue to improve the passenger experience at PDX,” said Port of Portland airport spokesman

Powell’s two post-security branches will close June 30, but its pre-security store, which opened in 1988 and offers games, toys and gifts along with new and used books, will remain. The airport store also buys used books.

“We’re very sad—this was not a choice we wanted,” Sontz said. “I may be the CEO, but I’m also a traveler. And I think this will affect people’s ability to have that last chance to grab a bit of reading before a long flight.”

(My story about the Sub Pop shop at Sea-Tac Airport and Powell’s Books at Portland International Airport first appeared on CNBC Road Warrior in a slightly different version.)